Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's operas comprise 22 musical dramas in a variety of genres. They range from the small-scale, derivative works of his youth to the full-fledged operas of his maturity. Three of the works were abandoned before completion and were not performed until many years after the composer's death. His mature works are all considered classics and have never been out of the repertory of the world's opera houses.
From a very young age Mozart had, according to opera analyst David Cairns, "an extraordinary capacity [...] for seizing on and assimilating whatever in a newly encountered style (was) most useful to him". In a letter to his father, dated 7 February 1778, Mozart wrote, "As you know, I can more or less adopt or imitate any kind and style of composition". He used this gift to break new ground, becoming simultaneously "assimilator, perfector and innovator". Thus, his early works follow the traditional forms of the Italian opera seria and opera buffa as well as the German Singspiel. In his maturity, according to music writer Nicholas Kenyon, he "enhanced all of these forms with the richness of his innovation", and, in Don Giovanni, he achieved a synthesis of the two Italian styles, including a seria character in Donna Anna, buffa characters in Leporello and Zerlina, and a mixed seria-buffa character in Donna Elvira.
MOZART’S “THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO,” LA OPERA – Don’t give me any excuses. You’ve always wanted to see if the LA Opera is as good as I have been preaching for years, so what better way to check it out than with a new production of the master Mozart’s reknowned ...
Impressive productions are Harvard CollegeOpera’s bread and butter. In the past decade, the group has successfully brought the likes of Mozart’s “Die Zauberflöte” and Jules Massenet’s “Cendrillon” to the stage ... “There's some music in operas that's kind of hard to listen to ... “This is a totally new composition for this opera.
What if we had a day without the arts? No visual, performing or literary arts whatsoever? ...Forget about going to libraries ... We would have no literary greats. No Voltaire ... There would no Bach, Beethoven or Mozart, no Beatles, Ray Charles or Coldplay. There would be no symphonies or operas or, for that matter, musical instruments ... There would be no movies.
Every year, around this time — aka the dry social season — I welcome a communique from Pamela Hillings Tegtmeyer, Pasadena’s manners maven for going on 40 years ... This year, there is a twosome on her list, making it 11 honorees this year ... LA Opera continues its season with Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro.” The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion ... .
During the show, Mekhail took her audience on a spectacular journey through the history of opera, covering classics by legendary composers such as Handel, Mozart and Puccini, followed by Arabic songs such as “AnaAlbi Dalili” by Laila Mourad, and “SaharEl Layali” and “El Helwa Di” by Fairuz.